2003 Michigan State Spartans football team

Last updated

2003 Michigan State Spartans football
Michigan State Spartans script.svg
Alamo Bowl, L 317 vs. Nebraska
Conference Big Ten Conference
Record8–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin (1st season)
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinatorChris Smeland (1st season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Spartan Stadium
Seasons
  2002
2004  
2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
No. 6 Michigan $  7 1   10 3  
No. 4 Ohio State  %  6 2   11 2  
No. 18 Purdue  6 2   9 4  
No. 8 Iowa  5 3   10 3  
No. 20 Minnesota  5 3   10 3  
Michigan State  5 3   8 5  
Wisconsin  4 4   7 6  
Northwestern  4 4   6 7  
Penn State  1 7   3 9  
Indiana  1 7   2 10  
Illinois  0 8   1 11  
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Spartans play their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. This was the first year for head coach John L. Smith, who would win Big Ten coach of the year in his debut, but would later be fired after the 2006 season.

Contents

The Spartans were coming off a 48 season and had just let go of head coach Bobby Williams.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 303:40 p.m. Western Michigan * ESPN Plus W 26–2172,923
September 63:40 p.m. Rutgers *
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusW 44–2872,579
September 1312:10 p.m. Louisiana Tech *
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusL 19–2072,387
September 202:30 p.m.at Notre Dame * NBC W 22–1680,795
September 2712:10 p.m.No. 13 Iowa
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusW 20–1072,276
October 412:10 p.m. Indiana Dagger-14-plain.pngNo. 25
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ESPN PlusW 31–372,398
October 1112:00 p.m.at Illinois No. 21 ESPN2 W 49–1447,509
October 1812:00 p.m.at No. 25 Minnesota No. 15ESPN2W 44–3838,778
November 112:00 p.m.No. 11 Michigan No. 9
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABC L 20–2775,129
November 812:00 p.m.at No. 7 Ohio State No. 14ABCL 23–33105,194
November 1512:00 p.m.at Wisconsin No. 21ESPN2L 21–5679,256
November 2212:00 p.m. Penn State
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ESPN W 41–1072,119
December 299:05 p.m.vs. No. 22 Nebraska *ESPNL 3–1756,226
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP RVRV2521151191421RVRVRVRVRV
Coaches RVRVRV231812101522RVRVRVRVRV
BCS Not released13102024Not released

Roster

2003 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 19 Irving Campbell Fr
OT 75 Pete Clifford Fr
RB 21 DeAndra' Cobb Jr
C 69 Kyle Cook Redshirt.svg  Fr
C 51 Chris Morris So
QB 11 Stephen Reaves Fr
QB 5 Drew Stanton Redshirt.svg  Fr
QB 9 Jeff Smoker Sr
WR 6 Matt Trannon So
G 76 Will Whitticker Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 95 Matthias Askew Jr
CB 22 Darren Barnett So
LB 30 Jehuu Caulcrick Fr
DE 59 Clifford Dukes Jr
LB 41 David Herron Redshirt.svg  Fr
LB 42 Mike Labinjo Sr
DT 99 Brandon McKinney Jr
LB 48 Seth Mitchell So
DE 88 Luc Mullinder Sr
DE 52 Clifton Ryan Redshirt.svg  Fr
DB 36 Eric Smith Redshirt.svg  So
LB 44 Ronald Stanley Jr
DT 91 Kevin Vickerson Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 8 Brandon Fields Redshirt.svg  Fr
K 16 Dave Rayner Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injury icon 2.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff

2004 NFL draft

The following players were selected in the 2004 NFL draft.

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL team
Matthias Askew 4114Defensive Tackle Cincinnati Bengals
Jeff Smoker 6201Quarterback St. Louis Rams

References